VIDEO Paper birds offer 'flights' of peace

Brian Aldrich and George Garin, parishoners at Christ Church in Troy look at some of the oragami cranes the community made which are hung in the church. The project, 1,000 prayers for peace used recycled paper and hangs in the church. (Tom Killips/The Record) 5/21/2010

TROY -- A thousand reminders of peace will hang above the heads of those who attended services at Christ Church United Methodist this weekend.

The last installment of folded paper birds was strung up in the rafters a few days ago, bringing to an end a weeks-long artistic process based on a dying Japanese girl's last days. Some were folded by church-goers, some by out-of-state friends, some by members of the public at the Troy Farmers Market.

"We had 5-year-olds doing it and we had 80-year-olds doing it," said Alice Rose, one of the churchgoers who spearheaded the project. "The more people that can work on this, the more peace we generate."

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Written on the birds, many of which are formed from garbage paper like advertisements, magazines and old maps, are prayers for peace.

Rose said the theme of peace is in touch with the church's message and its involvement in the community. Peace does not only mean the absence of war, she said.

"It's peace in our community, peace with our neighbors, peace in our lives," she said. "The process is just as important as the product, I think. The process of folding the paper of our lives we aren't using into prayers for peace is a powerful concept."

The birds connection with the idea of peace dates to mid-1950s Japan, where young Sadako Sasaki was dying of a disease tied to radiation from the atomic bomb that fell a decade earlier on her hometown, Hiroshima. She spent the final chapter of her life folding such birds in her hospital bed.

Christ Church United Methodist plans to have an exhibit produced by the Hiroshima Peace Museum on display when they open the church for Troy Night Out on May 28 to display the birds.

They have slowly been added each week to the ceiling of the 200-year-old church, which is located at State Street and Fifth Avenue. The installments -- or "flights," as Rose called them -- grew in size and color each time, creating the effect of a growing, moving flock when viewed from certain angles of the balcony.

George Garin, who helps with music services at the church, said he had to be talked into folding a bird at first. But he said he's come to feel a connection with the concept.

"The idea of the prayer on it, peace, beauty ... I can't believe how much it has come to mean to me," he said. "And it's still growing."

Rose said her mother first suggested the project, and by the time it finished well over 100 people had created birds -- so many that some are on display on the church's lobby. Some even arrived in the mail from out of state.

The Troy Night Out event will stream live on the internet through ustream.tv, as do other events at the church. That will allow those who mailed in a bird to experience the project and its message as well, said Rose's husband, Paul Marano.

"Those folks who took part in the creation of the exhibit will get an opportunity to experience it virtually," he said.